'No. 1 Stablecoin' Tether to Invest in a Gold Mining Company

To stabilize digital assets

Entering the gold mining industry including refining and trading

Tether, the world's largest issuer of the stablecoin (USDT), appears to be planning a full-scale entry into the gold mining business. It is seen as expanding gold investments to seek stabilization of its digital assets.

The Financial Times (FT) reported on the 8th (local time) that "Tether is discussing investing across the entire gold supply chain, including mining, refining, trading, and royalty businesses." The goal is to invest cryptocurrency business profits in the gold mining sector, which it had not previously touched.

In June, Tether acquired a 32% stake in the Canadian-listed gold royalty company Elemental Altus Royalty, and recently expanded the size of its investment through an additional $100 million stake purchase. Tether explained, "This investment is part of a group-level strategy to increase our gold exposure (investment weighting)."

A gold royalty company invests funds in a gold mine operator and, in return, receives a portion of the gold sales revenue (royalties) or a share of production over a long period. Tether now holds about 37.8% of Elemental Altus's shares.

Tether is reported to have been steadily exploring entry into the gold industry this year. Paolo Ardoino, Tether's chief executive officer (CEO), emphasized at the "Bitcoin 2025 Conference" held in May that "While Bitcoin is often called digital gold, gold is like nature's Bitcoin to us." He argued that gold is a safer asset than any other physical currency and can be a complement to Bitcoin.

CEO Ardoino predicted, "Expanding gold investments will enhance the stability and credibility of the stablecoin while serving as a bridge connecting digital assets and physical assets."

Tether stores $8.7 billion worth of gold bars in a Zurich vault and also runs related stablecoin businesses. "Tether Gold (XAUT)" is a gold-backed stablecoin. XAUT is pegged to the physical gold value of 1 troy ounce per token, and its market capitalization is about $1.4 billion. Tether's USDT has a market capitalization of $162 billion, making it the world's largest stablecoin. Of this, 80% is composed of safe assets such as cash, short-term deposits, and U.S. Treasuries, and the remainder is diversified into gold, cryptocurrencies, and other investment assets.

Reporter Kim Dong-hyun 3code@hankyung.com